Embrace Me
by SweetTemptation926
Summary: After hearing about the incident with Kol, Caroline goes to comfort Klaus. One-shot set after 4x12.


**a/n: I have this headcanon and it's killing me so I need to write it. Set right after 4x12.**

**This is something that I NEED to see. My imagination isn't doing it for me.**

Klaus breathed deeply, growling at the three who left him in this bloody room. His eyes full of hatred, vengeance. He banged on the invisible wall and sighed frustrated, realizing that there was no way out of this. Pacing back and forth, he slowed to a stop and faced the television, staring at it blankly as the realization hit him. His face turned as white as the walls. And then it was as if every bone in his body froze. The air was quiet and his breathing stopped all together.

He was afraid, that much was clear, and now that he was alone, he had no problems with holding it together.

It happened in slow motion. He made it to the door just in time to see the hunter driving the white oak stake through Kol's heart. There was nothing he could do and he stood in shock watching the flames rise on his younger brother. His initial reaction should have been anger but all he could feel was the clench in his heart. It was like a stroke. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. His throat became constricted, struggling to breathe, struggling to hold back his tears.

And then his blood began to boil as the doppelganger tried to justify her actions. Images of ripping her heart out flashed before his eyes. All he wanted was to see them burn they way they had made Kol burn.

Klaus turned his body slowly and the second he glanced down at his brothers grayed body he couldn't tear his eyes away. He stared at him, this time not bothering to care about the streak of water that ran down his face.

Hopelessness. It was all he felt. Numbness in his body and mind. Stepping backwards, his backside hit the couch. He pressed his lips together, suppressing the anger and slid down against the back of the couch slowly, before thoughtlessly falling hard to the ground. He stared at Kol's lifeless body, going through it all in his head. If he had left sooner, if he would have called Kol, explained to him that he wasn't in on the plan, forced him to leave the Gilbert's house, he could saved him. He could have done something different. Anything.

He stayed there the whole night going through the motions in his head. Torturing himself with different scenarios. Thinking of all of the things he could have done to prevent this from happening.

It was nearly daylight and he was in the same position that he found himself in last night. The sun was rising when he heard it. The door creaking open slowly bringing in the sweet perfume that he would have recognized anywhere. Her familiar footsteps tapped lightly on the wood floor before finally stopping in front of the invisible barrier. A shaky sigh escaped her throat and he heard the pity in it.

Klaus stood up slowly, finally tearing his eyes away from his brother to look at the girl who now stood just a few feet away from him. He stared blankly at the benevolence that she wore on her face.

"I didn't," she started quietly. She shook her head and glanced at the body in the kitchen. Caroline wanted to scream. Not from fear, but from anger. Anger at her friends for leaving him trapped in this room, with the corpse of his own brother just a few feet away from him. "I didn't know they were going to do this." She whispered, looking back at his disheveled appearance. "I never would have let them. We weren't," She sighed and shook her head. "We aren't supposed to be these people."

Caroline looked up at the ceiling and back down at the floor. She didn't know what she was doing, but she had this need, this desire to comfort him. One foot stepped passed the barrier, and then the other followed. She didn't look back and she didn't regret it. She just kept moving closer to him. Slowly, but surely.

He only stared at her, unable to come up with any words. While the rest of them saw a ruthless villain, Caroline only saw a broken boy. As much as he tried to hide it, she saw his humanity. And perhaps it was because he was quick to hide it from the others, but open to showing only her, this side of him.

She usually saw confidence in his eyes, but now all she saw was remorse. She took one step closer to him, waiting for him to act, but he stayed still. And another step, wanting to be near him. Closing the distance between them, she heard the way he stopped breathing, and saw the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed.

Slowly, she raised her arms and wrapped them around his body. Klaus didn't move and he wondered if sometime in the night, he had fallen asleep and hadn't woken up yet. He felt her arms press harder around him and his breath hitched.

Despite his lack of response, she stayed there. For a moment, he hesitated, and then finally wrapped his arms around her and clutched her tightly, not wanting to let go. She felt him relax and sighed, her throat closing up as she felt his pain. Her body fit snugly between his arms, the same way his fit in hers almost as if they were made for each other. Her hands moved up and down, caressing his back.

Klaus released a slow and unsteady breath. His breath revealed the repressed sadness that he had been holding in. She brought it out of him. Her warmness took away the chill that he had felt all night. It was something he had never felt before. It had been centuries since he'd been wrapped in such loving arms and realized that maybe this was what he needed. The comfort that she offered was the only thing that softened the pain. Although the ache and the pain were still there, her embrace healed a part of him.


End file.
